Bell, Book and Candle (1958) Remind Me Bell, Book and Candle (1959) New York City has played host to a lot of esoteric fringe groups over the years so it's not hard to believe that witchcraft covens could thrive in that metropolis. And Bell, Book and Candle (1958), Richard Quine's film version of John Van Druten's popular play, has great fun with the idea that witches could blend in quite easily with the other kooks and weirdos living in the "Big Apple." Kim Novak plays an art shop owner named Gillian who takes a fancy to publisher Shepard Henderson (James Stewart) when he visits her store on Christmas Eve. Shepard quickly finds himself falling under Gillian's spell even though he is engaged to be married to Merle (Janice Rule). Romantic complications ensue before arriving at a happy ending without the aid of sorcery.

Along the way we're treated to a picturesque tour of Manhattan, a beguiling music score by George Duning, James Wong Howe's atmospheric Technicolor cinematography and an assortment of oddball characters including Gillian's brother, Mickey (Jack Lemmon), a jazz-loving warlock who agrees to help an alcoholic author (Ernie Kovacs) write a book on witchcraft. Kim Novak was at the peak of her stardom in 1958. Not only was she the most popular box office star in America, thanks to her roles in Picnic (1955), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956) and Pal Joey (1957), but she was finally being treated seriously by film critics after her performance in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). As part of the complicated negotiations over Vertigo, Novak's co-star James Stewart had agreed to team with the actress again on Bell, Book and Candle but he wasn't happy with the choice of Richard Quine for director. Novak eventually convinced Stewart to accept him but she obviously had ulterior motives - Novak and Quine had been having a secret affair for four years!

Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper even printed the allegations just two days prior to the first day of shooting on Bell, Book and Candle which eventually laid to rest previous rumors that had been circulating about a torrid romance between Novak and Sammy Davis, Jr. Bell, Book and Candle was first made famous on the stage by the married acting team of Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer. Although the film version didn't quite match the popularity of the original play, it did offer moviegoers a sparkling romantic comedy with supernatural overtones and is probably more memorable for its supporting cast than its pairing of Stewart and Novak in their second film together. Jack Lemmon (who would become a major star that same year for Some Like It Hot) practically steals the movie as Novak's bongo-playing hipster brother and Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, and Elsa Lanchester contribute to the film's quirky comic charm. During the 1959 Oscar® race, Bell, Book and Candle was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction/Set Design and Best Costume Design but lost in both categories.

Producer: Julian Blaustein Screenplay: Daniel Taradash, based on the play by John Van Druten Art Direction: Cary ODell Editing: Charles Nelson Music: George Duning Cast: James Stewart (Shepard Henderson), Kim Novak (Gillian Holroyd), Jack Lemmon (Mickey Holroyd), Ernie Kovacs (Sidney Redlitch), Hermione Gingold (Mrs. De Pass), Elsa Lanchester (Queenie), Janice Rule (Merle Kittridge). C-103m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning. Bell, Book and Candle Elsa Lanchester, Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak, Ernie Kovacs, James Stewart "Kim Novak's nova was born of Harry Cohn's pique." (Marjorie Rosen) Cohen was furious when his protegee Rita Hayworth married without his permission, and that he'd failed to appreciate Marilyn Monroe's potential and she had signed with 20th Century Fox.

Marilyn Novak had done some modeling (including as Miss Deep Freeze) and Columbia's star-making machinery went into full gear on her behalf, changing her name (although she declined to be known as Kit Marlowe) tinting her hair lavender and photographing her in her lavender colored pad. Cohen cast her interestingly, including as the lead in the film version of the popular play Picnic, co-starring a hunky William Holden. 1958 was her big year. She had just been lent to Hitchcock for Vertigo and garnered the best reviews of her career in a film many list makers consider among the greatest ever made. Bell, Book and Candle was another success. Cohn died in the middle of this, her 12th film, and for all intents and purposes, her star career ended. Critics never really embraced her, her acting range was somewhat limited, and she was ambivalent about her manufactured sex symbol image. She always seemed rather a sad beauty. Novak was often criticized as having a somnambulistic style, but it serves her well here, as if she were answering a call from another dimension.

B B & C director Richard Quine directed a number of Kim Novak's films and had a long-term relationship with her, although they never married. As for James Stewart, at 50, this was his last romantic leading role. Ernie Kovacs, the iconoclast who transformed television comedy, plays the rumpled and boozy author Sidney Redlitch. This was his 2nd of 10 films; in his first three he co-starred with Jack Lemmon and was directed by Richard Quine. To play against his disheveled appearance, Kovacks gave Redlitch a softspoken tone, and was given "pretty free rein" to create his character. Quine said, Kovacs was "an intuitive actor. He was an extremely sensitive man, and everything I ever worked on with him he required very little direction. He was always quick to find that extra little shtick." For his entrance, Quine told him, "When the secretary tells you to go in, just walk in talking. Start before you get through the door, no hellos, nothing, just start talking. And he grabbed it like a hungry trout.

Stewart looked so astonished at this absurd entrance, it cracked him up." Lemmon said, "My relationship with Ernie, personally and professionally, will always remain very dear to my heart." Director Quine believed, "If Ernie had lived, the Lemmon-(Walter) Matthau team might well have been Lemmon-Kovacs. They remind me of a sophisticated Laurel and Hardy." Kovacs, of course, died in a tragic auto accident when he lost control of his fatally engineered Corvair and crashed. (Ralph Nader's book, Unsafe at Any Speed, was written as an indictment against Chevrolet's lax safety practices, of which Kovacs was the most famous victim). Lemmon hosted the 10-episode, The Best of Ernie Kovacs and appeared on Ernie Kovacs, TV's Original Genius. He revealed on the latter that he had occasionally donned a gorilla suit as one of Kovacs' Nairobi Trio. John Van Druten wrote Bell, Book and Candle. It ran for almost a year on Broadway, starring Rex Harrison and Lili Palmer and directed by its author. It closed only because he could not find a satisfactory substitute cast.

Here, Gillian Holyrod is not just a witch, but a dealer in "primitive" art and with her black clothes, bare feet and hipster brother is clearly a beatnik, a threat to the 1950s status quo. Feminist scholars note she must trade in her chic Jean Louis wardrobe for a dumpy shirtwaist and jam her bare feet into spike heels to be worthy of love. As we learned from the tv show Bewitched, you just can't be a wife AND a witch. Stewart, Pyewacket, Novak Yet, there is another interpretation. John Van Druten was gay, most famous for his play I Am a Camera, which became Cabaret. But, in Open Secret, David Ehrenstein notes that Bell, Book and Candle is his gayest work. "No one with any degree of familiarity with post WWII Greenwich Village will have any trouble seeing the "witches" and "warlocks" of this romantic fantasy for the gays and lesbians they really are, even in the midst of a purely heterosexual main plot." So, there are three ways of watching this glamorous product of the twilight of the Hollywood studio era.

Uncritically, enjoying the superb comic performances and exquisite production design, as a pre-feminist cautionary tale, or with an intriguing subtext the author slipped magically through the Hollywood Production Code. * (Sources include, The Other Fifties: Interrogating Midcentury American Icons "The Prime of Miss Kim Novak: Struggling over the feminine in the star image" by Jackie Byars, Kovacsland by Diana Rico, Jack Lemmon by Michael Freedland, Popcorn Venus by Marjorie Rosen, "Kim Novak" by James Robert Haspiel in the February 1978 Films in Review, "Jack Lemmon II" by Michael Buckley in January, 1985 Films in Review, Open Secret by David Ehrenstein. Production still from Jerry Ohlinger's Movie Materials Store, character portrait from the Kim Novak FIR article, Novak's glamour pose from A World of Movies (1974) by Richard Lawson and Kim and Pyewacket pose by Robert Coburn, in the 1987 LA Museum of Art exhibit and book Masters of Starlight: Photographers in Hollywood.

The November 24, 1958 cover story in Life magazine was on Bell Book and Candle). c.moviediva2002 DVD Savant Blu-ray Review: Bell, Book and Candle Bell, Book and Candle James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold, Elsa Lanchester, Janice Rule . Richard Quine Reviewed by Glenn Erickson Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo has one of the best romantic pairings of the fifties, and Columbia Pictures repeated it with an equally romantic but completely different kind of film -- a whimsical fantasy about witchcraft. James Stewart and Kim Novak seem to be taking a sentimental vacation away from murder plots and falls from great heights ... swapping Hitchcock's mysterioso mood for an amiable and sensual treatment of --- witchcraft. 1958's Bell, Book and Candle plays like a do-over to allow Novak and Stewart a happier finish. Beautiful, mysterious art gallery proprietress Gil Holroyd (Novak) is actually a practicing witch. She resorts to a love charm to attract publisher Shep Henderson (James Stewart), prying him away from his icky fianceé Merle (Janice Rule).

Gil's Aunt Queenie (Elsa Lanchester) and her own brother Nicky (Jack Lemmon are happy-go-lucky Greenwich Village practitioners that limit their magic to petty ends -- Nicky can't find a good job. Nicky foolishly helps phony occult writer Sidney Redlitch (Ernie Kovacs) learn about real witchcraft, which threatens to expose all of them witches. No show could be further from the paranoid horror of Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, which is also New York- based. Greenwich Village has come a long way from the uptight, neurotic Satanists of Val Lewton's The Seventh Victim . Less like the occult thriller Burn Witch, Burn and more like TV's Bewitched, witchcraft here is an apparently non-Satanic lifestyle. Nonconformist Gil celebrates Christmas, or at least decorates for the holiday. The impish Nicky is a sly prankster and Aunt Queenie so irresponsible with her potions and charms that she risks letting out their secret. But Gil is at heart a soft and loving woman just looking for that right guy. She just happens to practice the secrets of Black Magic, is all.

Of course, the romantic problems arise when Gil breaks the rules of witchcraft by falling in love with her new 'enchanted' boyfriend, and regrets not winning him the honest way. This is of course foolish, as any breathing man would crawl through fire for a date with Gil, who is a knockout in her glamorous hip-chick costumes. The vision of Kim Novak in soft sweaters, conversing with her cat-familiar Pyewacket, strikes close to the spirit of the actress herself -- creative, calm, self-possessed. Kim Novak takes to the barefoot Bohemian style quite well, even with a pair of painted eyebrows that resemble giant commas come to roost. Richard Quine directed a pile of early Novak pictures, some better than others. Here he's aided by terrific star chemistry. Novak and James Stewart seem made for each other despite the obvious age difference. Stewart exercises his comedy skills without resorting to Harvey- type slapstick. His late night snuggling scenes with Novak equate romantic infatuation with magical enchantment. If Bell, Book and Candle had played as a straight drama, it may have had trouble with the Production Code.

Hollywood movies in the 1950s insisted on Judeo-Christianity being the only acceptable context for most relationships. I imagine that plenty of today's religious fundamentalists today would be offended by the film's portrayal of witchcraft as benign. This was Jack Lemmon's last feature before the quantum stardom boost that came with Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot . He and the eccentric Ernie Kovacs make a great team. Kovacs is perfectly cast as a fraudulent occult author who can't believe he's latched onto the real deal. Elsa Lanchester handles the dotty comedy well enough -- we wish she had been cast with a little more creativity -- and Hermione Gingold is a wise elder member of the local coven. Columbia gave Bell, Book and Candle the best production values it had to offer. Cinematographer James Wong Howe paints the elaborate Greenwich Village sets in attractive colors, lending New York a hint of fantasy. The local Satanic hangout, a smoky hep-cat nightclub, serves as an interesting contrast to Gil Holroyd's tasteful arts shop. George Duning provides the lush score.

Bell, Book and Candle plays very well on a large screen but tended to seem slow on old TV airings broken up with commercials. This widescreen Blu-ray really recreates the theatrical experience -- we feel like we're cozying up with two of our favorite people. The various plot conflicts are secondary considerations -- quite a few Novak fans think this is her most entertaining picture. The Twilight Time Blu-ray of Bell, Book and Candle follows up on a Sony DVD that came in a 2010 Kim Novak set. The super-saturated color replicates the lush look of original Technicolor prints. The DVD's lesser resolution hid the slight granularity of the (probably slightly) faded original film elements, but the full scan of HD for this disc shows more grain. Also, the Technicolor printing process -- a 'publishing' process as opposed to a photochemical one -- smoothed out the original grain as well. 1 Twilight Time thoughtfully includes a couple of featurettes from the 2010 disc, produced by Greg Carson and interviewer Steven Rebello.

Kim Novak sticks to standard praise to talk about her co-stars Lemmon and Kovacs but assures us that she recognized a fellow 'real person' in James Stewart, a man as comfortable "as a pair of old slippers". Novak also cops to loving the witchcraft angle -- she obviously delighted in working with Pyewacket, the Siamese cat. Also included is an original trailer and the expected Isolated Score Track, which is like getting a free Original Soundtrack Album included in one's purchase. TT's house scribe Julie Kirgo uses her pamphlet essay to discuss Bell, Book and Candle from interesting angles. Kim Novak's Gil gets rid of James Stewart's fianceé, played by Janice Rule; the cruel irony is that Rule played the lead in Picnic on Broadway, only to see Novak swipe the part when the play came to the screen. We love Janice Rule's bitchy Texas wife in Arthur Penn's The Chase, but Columbia also cast her in demeaning shows, like the Dean Martin / Matt Helm superspy dud The Ambushers. Rule has the thankless role here, and carries it off with charm to spare.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Bell, Book and Candle Blu-ray rates: Isolated Score Track, two featurettes, original trailer Packaging: Keep case Footnotes: 1. I was not bothered by the Blu-ray's appearance, and I thought I'd defend it against some of the comments I've read on the web. Now is not a time to be releasing videodiscs, if you are sensitive about the kinds of discussions that float around on Bulletin Boards and other web discussion sites. Not only is everyone an instant expert, there's altogether too much ignorant outraged protest against this and that 'filmic crime' being perpetrated by film restoration people. Yeah, it does seem that if a picture has problems, it'll be one of my personal favorites. But I don't start accusing people or forming aesthetic lynch mobs. Bell, Book and Candle may have a bit of extra grain, but I congratulate Sony for not wiping it out with excessive DNR. Bell, Book and Candle (Film) - TV Tropes Bell, Book and Candle You need to login to do this.

Get Known if you don't have an account Share Film / Bell, Book and Candle × WMG C'mon, she didn't need the cat. Bell, Book and Candle is a 1958 romantic comedy film adapted from a 1950 play of the same name by John Van Druten, directed by Richard Quine and starring James Stewart , Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon , and Ernie Kovacs . Shep Henderson (Stewart) is a book publisher in Manhattan who happens to live above a dealer in African art named Gillian Holroyd (Novak). Besides being an art dealer, Gillian is a witch from a family of witches that include her aunt Queenie (Elsa Lanchester) and her brother Nicky (Lemmon). Gillian takes an interest in bachelor Shep, and when she finds out that Shep's about to marry her old college enemy Merle Kittredge (Janice Rule), she casts a spell to make Shep fall in love with her instead. Complications arise when Nicky hooks up with Sidney Redlitch (Kovacs), an author of books about witchcraft, and threatens to expose Gillian's secret life.

Bell, Book and Candle was the follow-up to a very different Stewart-Novak pairing from earlier that same year, Vertigo . It is also notable as the last film in which Stewart played a romantic lead. It may or may not have inspired the TV sitcom Bewitched , which premiered four years later. Tropes: All Witches Have Cats : Gillian has Pyewacket, a Siamese that she uses as her familiar. Artistic License ï¿½ Religion : Artistic license witchcraft? The mantra "ring the bell, close the book, quench the candle" quoted in the movie is characterized as an exorcism rite when it was actually an excommunication rite. Beatniks : The setting is Greenwich Village in The '50s , so Gillian and Nicky adopt this persona as their masquerade . Bowties Are Cool : Nicky is never seen without one. Chekhov's Gun : It is established early in the film that witches can't cry or blush, and that falling in love results in a witch losing her powers. At the end, Gillian falls in love and loses her powers, and Shep realizes she loves him for real when she blushes and cries.

Chickification : Gillian is an icily sexy witch who mainly dresses in black beatnik pants outfits or vivid red dresses, and runs a cool, vaguely spooky art dealership specializing in African and Oceanian folk art. When she's de-powered, she takes to wearing yellow or white sundresses, and she turns her shop into a seashell emporium. Cloudcuckoolander : Queenie is a somewhat flighty lady. Contrived Coincidence : The bachelor who lives above Gillian's store is engaged to Gillian's worst enemy from college. Disposable Fiancï¿½e : Merle for Shep. Her past as a snobbish college bully makes her less sympathetic. Emerald Power : Magic, when visible, is depicted as green. (The particular shade is reminiscent of the kind seen in Novak and Stewart's previous film, Vertigo .) Familiar : Pyewacket, the Siamese cat that Gillian uses to cast spells. In the end, after Gillian is de-powered, Pyewacket leaves her and moves in with Queenie. High Class Gloves : Fashionable Hot Witch Gillian wears them with one of her Sexy Backless Outfits.

Hot Witch : Novak at the height of her sexiness, wearing a series of flattering, revealing outfits throughout the movie. I Need a Freaking Drink : Shep downs one with a shaking hand when his inability to leave their building finally convinces him that Gillian is not kidding and is actually a witch. It Is Pronounced Tropay : "Gillian" is pronounced with a hard G. Characters call her "Gil". Love Potion : A spell, actually. Gillian might have been able to make Shep fall in love with her the regular way, because she is Kim freaking Novak, but Shep's getting married tomorrow, so she has to act quickly. She uses Pyewacket to cast a love spell on Shep. Magical Barefooter : Gillian (she even used to go to her classes without shoes). In full accordance with the trope, when she loses her powers, she also loses her penchant for going barefoot. Ms. Fanservice : If you were putting Kim Novak in your movie in the 1950s, you were contractually obligated to do this. Gillian wears two Sexy Backless Outfits, a series of tight dresses, and a silk robe with Absolute Cleavage . P.O.V.

Shot : Multiple black-and-white shots from the POV of Pyewacket. The Power of Love : Will make a witch lose her powers. Rom Com Job : Shep's a book publisher. Gillian owns a shop dealing in African art. Salem Is Witch Country : Not directly stated but hinted at with the Holroyds, whom Queenie describes as "an old Massachusetts family". Gillian also describes her witching life to Shep as "early American". Sexy Backless Outfit : Ms. Fanservice Kim Novak wears two different such outfits over the course of the movie. Title Drop : Sidney quotes the "ring the bell, close the book, quench the candle" ritual, and later Shep refers to Gillian and her circle as the "bell, book, and candle set." Urban Fantasy : Witches in 1958 New York. What Is This Thing You Call "Love"? : Witches can't fall in love lest they lose their powers. When Queenie finds out this has happened to Gillian, she asks her what it's like. Where Everybody Knows Your Flame : It eventually becomes clear that the Zodiac club where the witches hang out is also a gay bar.

Witch with a Capital B : Shep's jilted fiancee Merle calls Gillian the b-word Merle: A witch? Bell Book and Candle (1958) - FAQ The content of this page was created directly by users and has not been screened or verified by IMDb staff. Visit our FAQ Help to learn more FAQ How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie? For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Bell Book and Candle can be found here . What is 'Bell Book and Candle' about? It's Christmas eve, and witch Gillian 'Gil' Holroyd ( Kim Novak ) is feeling bored and in a rut.

When Gil admits to her Aunt Queenie ( Elsa Lanchester ) that she's taken a fancy to her upstairs neighbor, Shepard 'Shep' Henderson ( James Stewart ), Queenie suggests that she put a spell on him, but Gil refuses...until she learns that the girl Shep is about to marry is that same back-stabbing, beau-stealing Merle Kittridge ( Janice Rule ) who wrote a poison pen letter to the dean at Wellesley reporting Gil for attending classes barefoot. Is "Bell Book and Candle" based on a book? Bell Book and Candle is based on the 1950 play Bell, Book and Candle by English-born playwright John Van Druten [1901-1957]. The play was adapted for the film by American screenwriter Daniel Taradash. A made-for-television remake, Bell, Book and Candle , was released in 1976. Another remake, Bell Book and Candle , is in development with no set release date. What does the title mean? A bell, a book, and a candle were used in excommunication rites over 1,000 years ago.

After performing the excommunication ritual over someone who had committed a particularly grievous sin, the bishop would ring a bell to evoke a death toll, close a holy book to symbolize the ex-communicant's separation from the church, and snuff out a candle to represent the sinner's soul being extinguished from the light of God. Where does the cat's name, Pyewacket, come from? Pywacket became a popular name for cats just after Bell Book and Candle was released. The name comes from a 1647 account, The Discovery of Witches , by Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, who was investigating instances of witchcraft in Maningtree, Essex County, England. One of the suspected "witches" confessed, after being deprived of sleep for four nights, to having several familiars, one named Pyewacket. Hopkins also named nine other familiars, including Holt (described as a "white kitling"), Jarmara (a fat, legless spaniel), Vinegar Tom, (a long-legged greyhoud with a head like an ox), Sack and Sugar (a black rabbit), and Newes (a polecat).

Elemanzer, Peckin the Crown, Grizzel, Greedigut, and Pyewacket were described simply as "imps," but the name Pyewacket has come to be associated with cats. Why would Nicky offer to expose himself as a warlock to Sidney Redlitch? For the money. Nicky's job at the Herb Store wasn't exactly high-paying, and Redlitch ( Ernie Kovacs ) offered him 50% of the profits from his next book, Magic in Manhattan, or Witchcraft Around Us, if he could find a real witch or warlock as a collaborator. How does the movie end? Pyewacket runs away after Gillian loses her powers, thanks to her really falling in love with Shep. She changes her Primitive Art store into one featuring Flowers of the Sea. Months pass, but Queenie and Nicky are still worried about her condition, so Queenie sends Pyewacket (he's now her cat) to Shep's office. Shep has deteriorated into an old grouch. When he sees Pyewacket come in the window, he angrily stuffs the cat into a wastebasket and brings him back to Gil.

Gil explains that Pyewacket is no longer her cat, which surprises Shep. They exchange pleasantries ("How are you doing? How is Merle doing?") until Shep notices that Gil is blushing. Then Gil starts to cry, and Shep realizes that she's lost her powers and, as the saying goes, that can only happen if a witch falls in love. Shep takes Gil into his arms and admits that he is still in love with her, too. "Only it's real this time," he says. "Or has it been real all along? Who's to say what magic is?" He asks Gil if she'd like to stop crying now, and she replies, "I don't think I can...I'm only human." In the final scene, Queenie and Nicky are watching Gil and Shep through the window. They start to walk up the street. Nicky causes all the streetlights to go out, except for one on which Pyewacket is perched. Then that light goes out, too. Meow. Any recommendations for other movies that feature witches in the romantic lead?

Prior to Bell, Book, and Candle, there really is only one other movie that features a witch in the romantic lead, and that's the light-hearted romantic comedy I Married a Witch (1942) in which a witch attempts to wreck havoc on the impending marriage of the ancestor of the witch-hunter who had her and her father burned at the stake in 1672. After Bell, Book, and Candle, witches and witchcraft became more popular in the media. Perhaps the most memorable of them is the TV series " Bewitched " (1964-1972), in which a human man marries a witch, along with her wacky witchy family. The TV series was also made into a movie, Bewitched (2005). A Review of ‘Bell, Book and Candle’ at Hartford Stage - The New York Times The New York Times N.Y. / Region |Bewitched (Before Samantha) Search Continue reading the main story John van Druten ’s “Bell, Book and Candle” — or at least the sassy, stylish production now at Hartford Stage — could bring back wall-to-wall carpeting. Actually, Alexander Dodge’s set may hurt audiences’ eyes at first.

It’s all that red (the carpet, the walls, every major piece of furniture), set off by a starburst chandelier, a midcentury-modern suspended black fireplace and a silvery aluminum Christmas tree. It can’t be 1950, the year Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer starred in this romantic comedy on Broadway. But it could pass for 1958, the date of the movie version with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. Photo Kate MacCluggage as Gillian Holroyd “Bell, Book and Candle” at Hartford Stage. Credit T. Charles Erickson The set is the chic Manhattan apartment of Gillian Holroyd, who happens to be a beautiful young witch. Not exactly a good witch, like the wholesome Samantha Stephens, soon to be created for the 1960s sitcom “Bewitched.” But not a bad one either, not like the one Dorothy crushed with a house in “The Wizard of Oz.” As played by the enchanting Kate MacCluggage , Gillian is a very sexy witch with full confidence in her seductive powers. If you ever saw Annette Bening in the film “The Grifters,” you get the idea — at least as Ms.

MacCluggage appears in Act I. Photo Gregor Paslawsky as Sidney Redlitch and Robert Eli as Shepherd Henderson. Credit T. Charles Erickson But change is ahead. Gillian, a moral creature, would never use witchcraft to steal another woman’s man. But when she learns that the square but handsome mortal publisher Shepherd Henderson (Robert Eli), her upstairs neighbor, is engaged to a woman she knew and despised in college (no one ever mentions where the average 20th-century American witch was likely to get her degree or in what subject), she decides to make an exception, dismissing the witch community’s superstition that if you truly fall in love, you lose your powers. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Directed with fine-tuned affection by Darko Tresnjak, Hartford Stage’s relatively new artistic director, and produced with Long Wharf Theater in New Haven (where it played last month), this is the best kind of period piece. Passing references to 1950s events and figures — the Kinsey Report, Babe Paley , “un-American activities” — strike just the right semisweet note of now-versus-then. Photo Michael Keyloun as Nicky Holroyd. Credit T.

Charles Erickson The British-born van Druten, who died in 1957, may be better known now for other plays: “I Remember Mama,” “The Voice of the Turtle” and “I Am a Camera,” which was the basis of the book for the musical “Cabaret.” Continue reading the main story In a Hartford Stage program note, Mr. Tresnjak suggests that van Druten’s experience as a gay man may have inspired him to write this work about “the importance of appearances, of a close circle of trusted friends, of pretending and secrets,” of “ ‘passing’ as something they are not.” The witches of “Bell, Book and Candle” do have a regular New York bar, the Zodiac, where they go to be themselves openly — not exactly the Stonewall Inn, but the point is made. Photo Ruth Williamson as Aunt Queenie. Credit T. Charles Erickson Gillian’s inner circle consists of her Aunt Queenie (Ruth Williamson, who is a pro at physical comedy, mostly from the neck up in this performance) and her brother, Nicky (Michael Keyloun). Mr.

Keyloun plays Nicky with deliberate swishiness, although every word of dialogue insists that he is heterosexual; some young woman named Natalie, whom we never see, interests him romantically. But that’s the way things were done on film and stage in the ’50s. As the romantic lead, Mr. Eli makes a seamless transition from stodgy and dullish to elegant and passionate. The only other outsider is Sidney Redlitch (played nicely by Gregor Paslawsky), an author who has written a laughably ill-informed book about the world of witches. Shep wants to publish him. Nicky decides to collaborate with him. This production would not work nearly so well without these performances, particularly Ms. MacCluggage’s, but even if high school students had been cast, the show would have been enjoyable for its Sinatra-smooth, Eisenhower-gentle style alone.

Music between scenes includes Sinatra’s vintage hit “It’s Witchcraft,” the old standard “I’ll Take Manhattan” and the love song “ Hey, There ” from “The Pajama Game.” Fabio Toblini’s costume design, from Gillian’s sensuous sheath dresses to Aunt Queenie’s boxy older-lady overcoat, makes me miss those first few seasons of “Mad Men,” set in the early ’60s. Tom Watson is credited with wig design, and even if it would require genuine sorcery to pull Gillian’s short Italian-boy cut into the French twist and the Breck-girl waves we see later, the hair could not look much more authentic. And whoever did Ms. MacCluggage’s eyebrows has either time-traveled from the old MGM back lot or has been looking very carefully at half-century-old movie magazines. Mr. Dodge’s set, previously described, also includes panels of moody gray skyscrapers. Matthew Richards’s lighting design is both emotion-enhancing and playful, particularly when spells are being cast. Lindsay Jones’s sound design is an important part of those magical effects.

No angels get their wings in this play (that is, no bells ring) but at Hartford Stage it is clear that every time glass breaks, a witch somewhere is making love. “Bell, Book and Candle,” by John van Druten, is at Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street, through April 29. Information: (860) 527-5151 or hartfordstage.org. A version of this article appears in print on April 22, 2012, on Page CT11 of the New York edition with the headline: Bewitched (Before Samantha). Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe Bell Book and Candle - (Original Trailer) You will receive an email shortly to confirm your email address. Bell Book And Candle - (Original Trailer) title details and video sharing options now playing Bell Book And Candle - (Original Trailer) Beautiful witch Kim Novak places a love spell on James Stewart in the comedy Bell Book And Candle (1959) also starring Jack Lemmon.

View the TCMDb entry for Bell, Book and Candle (1959) share video Bell Book and Candle - (Original Trailer) Bell Book and Candle - (Original Trailer) Beautiful witch Kim Novak places a love... Bell Book and Candle - (Original Trailer) Beautiful witch Kim Novak places a love spell on James Stewart in the comedy Bell Book And Candle (1959) also starring Jack Lemmon.> Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Maybe... First meeting between bored witch and art dealer Gillian... Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie... Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Maybe They Did That To Kinsey Too First meeting between bored witch and art dealer Gillian (Kim Novak) and upstairs neighbor and publisher Henderson (James Stewart), joined by her aunt Queenie (Elsa Lanchester), who earlier raided his apartment and secretly disabled his phone, in Bell Book And Candle, 1959.> Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie Clip) I... Bridegroom-to-be Shep (James Stewart) looks already...

Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie... Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie Clip) I Think I'm Allergic To Your Cat Bridegroom-to-be Shep (James Stewart) looks already entranced, explaining about his impending marriage, but witch Gillian (Kim Novak) decides to cast her spell anyway, in a racy scene from Bell Book And Candle, 1959.> Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Just... Shep (James Stewart) has kind-of dragged fianceè Merle... Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie...

Bell Book And Candle (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Just An Old Bugaboo Shep (James Stewart) has dragged fianceè Merle (Janice Rule) to the Zodiac to meet new friends Gillian and aunt Queenie (Kim Novak, Elsa Lanchester), whom he does not know are witches, discovering a history, and brother Danny (Jack Lemmon) in the band, in Bell Book And Candle, 1959.> 'Bell, Book and Candle' casts a spell at Laurel Mill Playhouse - tribunedigital-baltimoresun 'Bell, Book and Candle' casts a spell at Laurel Mill Playhouse Kat McKerrow and Ken Krintz in a scene from "Bell, Book,… (Photo by Larry Simmons ) October 17, 2013|By Patti Restivo The Laurel Mill Playhouse on Main Street seems to be getting the hang of stormy opening nights. But even Director Larry Simmons couldn't design as fitting an aura for the first showing of John Van Bruten's classic romantic comedy, "Bell, Book, and Candle," as the natural downpour opening night Oct. 11. Or, could he?

A delightful story about witches, "Bell, Book, and Candle" debuted on Broadway in 1950. The play predates and influenced Sol Saks' well-known 1960s television show, "Bewitched." And mature audiences may remember Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak starring in the 1958 film release of "Bell, Book, and Candle." When the show begins, it's Christmas Eve in Gillian Holroyd's apartment in mid-town Manhattan. Designed by Simmons, the set's antique decor appears slightly off kilter. A large Christmas wreath hangs over the mantle, odd hand-painted artwork adorns the walls and a small deity sculpture sits incongruently on a carved stand. From the moment Pyewacket (played by Kendra Maurer's cat, Bones) twitches his whiskers at Gillian (played by Kat McKerrow), audience members should happily surrender their disbelief. After all, most people talk to their cats. And the wide-eyed and chic Gillian appears normal enough, at least at first glance.

But soon Gillian reveals that she is a witch, and quite powerful; she reminisces about conjuring a month of thunderstorms when angered by a rival during her college days. The primary plot revolves around a love spell that Gillian will soon cast on book publisher Shep Henderson (played by Laurel resident Ken Krintz). Shep, who lives upstairs in a sublet apartment, visits Gillian for the first time to complain that Aunt Queenie (played by Maureen Rogers, of Laurel) keeps creeping into his apartment, and that odd smells and sounds come from Queenie's apartment. As their landlady, Gillian apologies and promises to speak to her aunt, and Shep leaves to celebrate Christmas Eve with his fiancé. Enter Aunt Queenie, followed by Gillian's brother, Nicky (played by Jimmy Hennigan, also of Laurel). The three witches exchange gifts and practice a little magic. Gillian discovers from Aunt Queenie that Shep's fiancé is her old enemy and decides then and there that she wants him. There's no scarcity of dramatic tension as Gillian casts a love spell to enchant Shep and starts a chain of unexpected events.

Sidney Redlitch (played by Simmons) is an author of magic books that Shep wants to sign. When Gillian summons Sidney to her apartment to meet Shep, Nicky agrees to collaborate on research for a book about witches. Fearing that Nicky will reveal too much about "real" witchcraft, Gillian casts another spell to make Shep lose interest in the book deal, and Nicky exacts revenge for her interference. But most disturbingly, Gillian realizes that she has fallen in love. Simmons has assembled a seasoned cast to enact what he says is one of his favorite plays. McKerrow delivers a thoughtful interpretation of Gillian. While the pace on opening night was a little sluggish, it gave viewers a chance to fully note and appreciate the more subtle nuances of her physical character work. And as the male lead, Krintz fits Shep Henderson visually, to a tee. Playhouse veteran Rogers as Aunt Queenie shines as usual, both for her bubbling stage presence and her winsome costumes. Laurel Mill Playhouse newcomer Hennigan never misses a beat as Gillian's handsome brother, skillfully balancing his precocious character's narcissism with charm and genuine sibling love.

The costumes, overseen by McKerrow and Rogers, are lovely; the set, dressed by Simmons, his wife, Diana, and McKerrow works well in spite of minor blocking tangles; and all the actors are attractive. There were some line problems on opening night that cut patches out of the story line, creating a sense of being told rather than seeing the story happen. And Krentz didn't quite convey the passion one would expect from a man bewitched. But Simmons also delivers considerable energy in his portrayal of Redlitch, and Bones as Pyewacket admirably refrains from upstaging the rest of the cast, as familiars (and cats) are naturally prone to do. "Bell, Book, and Candle" continues through Oct. 27, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays, Oct. 20 and 27, at Laurel Mill Playhouse, 508 Main St. General admission is $15. Students 18 and under and seniors 65 and over pay $12. For reservations, call 301-617-9906 and press 2. MORE:

Question: Who played the male lead in the 1958 film 'Bell, Book & Candle'?
Answer: James Stewart